15 Jan 2024, 23:15
Well, the title thread says everything I guess. Five days ago, something unimaginable happened in my life.
A good friend of mine and fellow collector has sent me a box, chocked full of "watch goodies", and he told me that the box was going to be quite heavy (10kg, 22lbs) due to the things he put inside.
Well, he wasn't wrong! Five days ago I've received the titular box and inside, I found other boxes which contained what pretty much is the Shangri-la of early digital watches. Tons of Optel DSMs and spare parts. Holy guacamole!
I started testing the first batch, the encased ones. So far, four work, three need a new panel and five don't work, but maybe they just need a new panel as well.
I begun to test the loose modules yesterday: 22 are in working condition, one had a dried panel so I removed it, four are panel-less and I need to test them. I also have to replace the panels on the cased modules that have degraded ones. In the picture below there are the panels I scavenged from the dead modules.
I also need to check the panels of the dead cased modules, if they are good, they will end in the bag of scavenged panels for further testing. I've also separated 22 cases which hopefully will contain the working modules after I get them to work reliably. Most of them need some work on the pins (usually the common pin) and some have missing segments which appear if I apply some pressure, so I'll have to gently lift those pins up and hope for the best (hoping that the panels of the working modules don't have issues at the electrodes).
Further testing awaits me... Please be patient, I'm like an archaeologist who has found an ancient Egyptian ship disassembled in a Pharaoh's tomb and needs to put it all together before displaying it in a museum...
In future I will take a picture of the dead modules which someone can use for parts or for display purposes. I also found a cracked panel inside one of the dead modules which also had a snapped contact, so it was useless anyway. I haven't included the cased ones which will be tested again another time.
In the same box there's also a nice untested Citizen Crystron LC (which needs a bracelet) and several ESA chronograph modules, always untested.
I plan to test all the Optels, assemble them together and put them for sale. It's going to be a looooong journey.
A good friend of mine and fellow collector has sent me a box, chocked full of "watch goodies", and he told me that the box was going to be quite heavy (10kg, 22lbs) due to the things he put inside.
Well, he wasn't wrong! Five days ago I've received the titular box and inside, I found other boxes which contained what pretty much is the Shangri-la of early digital watches. Tons of Optel DSMs and spare parts. Holy guacamole!
I started testing the first batch, the encased ones. So far, four work, three need a new panel and five don't work, but maybe they just need a new panel as well.
I begun to test the loose modules yesterday: 22 are in working condition, one had a dried panel so I removed it, four are panel-less and I need to test them. I also have to replace the panels on the cased modules that have degraded ones. In the picture below there are the panels I scavenged from the dead modules.
I also need to check the panels of the dead cased modules, if they are good, they will end in the bag of scavenged panels for further testing. I've also separated 22 cases which hopefully will contain the working modules after I get them to work reliably. Most of them need some work on the pins (usually the common pin) and some have missing segments which appear if I apply some pressure, so I'll have to gently lift those pins up and hope for the best (hoping that the panels of the working modules don't have issues at the electrodes).
Further testing awaits me... Please be patient, I'm like an archaeologist who has found an ancient Egyptian ship disassembled in a Pharaoh's tomb and needs to put it all together before displaying it in a museum...
In future I will take a picture of the dead modules which someone can use for parts or for display purposes. I also found a cracked panel inside one of the dead modules which also had a snapped contact, so it was useless anyway. I haven't included the cased ones which will be tested again another time.
In the same box there's also a nice untested Citizen Crystron LC (which needs a bracelet) and several ESA chronograph modules, always untested.
I plan to test all the Optels, assemble them together and put them for sale. It's going to be a looooong journey.
